My life is more than a little crazy as I have two time-consuming hobbies, but being recently retired I hope to have more time for both. I've been showing dogs since 1967, but about 10 years ago decided to cut back on dogs and dog-related activities and add an "easy" hobby, like a tank of fish. I STILL breed and show dogs, but many tanks later I also keep a variety of aquarium fish. Hiking,gardening, writing, reading, cooking, and (especially) dining out are also favorite activities.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Lists

I'm a firm believer in keeping lists, a list always labelled To Do. I have several of them going at any one time, as I don't always remember to carry them between home and work, and sometimes lose them for a few days. The small spiral notebooks that used to be called Steno Pads are my favorites, and there's normally two or three of them in use at any given time. One of them was labelled Sue's Mind, but whenever I lost that one it gave me a creepy feeling, so now they all remain nameless.

Am I more forgetful than the average person? Am I getting more forgetful as I get older? It's hard to know, but something that I worry about occasionally. I do know that lists help me stay organized, add structure to my life and help me get a lot more accomplished. Because I have several time-consuming hobbies (dogs & fish), an elderly mother, an elderly house, a yard, a car,﻿ a job, and am always involved in a variety of half-finished projects (such as the bathroom re-decorating that is still not finished), there are always things to do. At least once a week I re-do one or more of the lists, carrying forward the things that remain undone. Then the list seems to be nagging me, but eventually those things get done. The audiology appointment DID get made, as did the dental appointment that was made & kept. The list reminded me to call Denise to find out when my haircut appointment was - it was in 20 minutes, so I got there on time - but that had been on the list for a week!

"Buy new dog tags" was on the list for weeks, but the new tags arrived yesterday and now the list says "put tags on collars". We'll get to that eventually! "Look at comforters" has been there for several weeks and I've been looking but have not found what I want, so it will be moved forward again. "Buy beef heart" was accomplished and replaced with "cut up and nuke beef heart" (for training treats). "Sun flowers and gourds" still need to be purchased, but that requires "go to Farmer's Market" first. "Replace dryer hose" is back on the list as it never got accomplished last winter so it MUST be done this year. "Train Argus" and "train Letty" will stay on the list for a long time since it is an ongoing "to do", and "cut dog nails" goes on every week, as does "water changes" (in the fishroom).

Although lists are essential for staying on top of things they also give me great satisfaction when I cross items off the list. There is a list in front of me right now with 22 items, 12 of them crossed off. The list on the dining room table came home from the office (I jot down reminders during the day) and contains10 items, a few that will be duplicates. If this is a productive day, perhaps 6 -8 items will be crossed off, but the rest will be there to keep me on track, or nag at me. Unfortunately, they are NEVER finished . . .